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THE 



OXFORD ESSAYS, 



UBm POWELL 01 MIRACLES. 



JOHN COTTON SMITH, 

RECTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION. 






/ 



NEW-YORK: 

JOHN A. GRAY, PRINTER, STEREOTYPER, AND BINDER, 

FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS, 

CORNER OP FRANKFORT AND JACOB STREETS. 

1861. 



^•T^n 



1?^ 



s^ 



THE 



OXFORD ESSAYS, 



BADEN POWELL ON MIRACLES. 



We have experienced a sensible feeling of relief after 
tlie reading of this volume of Essays. It was with 
some little apprehension, we confess, that we began its 
perusal. The flourish of trumpets with which its ap- 
proach was heralded, and the acknowledged ability of 
its authors, led us to fear, not indeed that the ad- 
vocates of the truth would be vanquished, but that 
some phase of error so original and portentous might 
arise, as to render necessary a thorough review of the 
Evidences of Christianity. But while we believe that 
this book will be the cause of great evil, and that its 
influence should in every way be counteracted, we con- 
fidently assert that there is nothing new in it which is 
at all important in its bearing on the great subject of 
which it treats. The views which it presents are per- 
fectly familiar to those who are acquainted with the 
German philosophy and theology of the last thirty 
years, and have been advocated again and again in this 



^ THE OXFORD ESSAYS. 

country with far more of learning and ability tlian 
this work displays * 

It is impossible for us to regard this work otherwise 
than as an assault upon Christianity ; for if there is 
any thing definite and distinct in the Christian system, 
if that name carries with it any clear and positive idea 
to the popular mind, it is all either directly or by 
implication assailed in this book. It is not as if certain 
doctrines of the faith had been made the subject of 
assault ; the attack is upon the very foundation upon 
which they all rest. The Revelation which contains 
them is reduced below the level of other books, for 
even its historical authority is denied, and we are at 
least left to the inference that any supernatural inter- 
vention in the affairs of men is incredible. 

"We have been very much struck with one feature in 
these " Essays." There is no sensibility manifested to 
the pain and sorrow which must be experienced by 
vast numbers of persons if the positions of these au- 
thors are well founded. Theirs is emphatically a work 
of destruction. They have nothing to offer in the 
place of that which they seek to destroy. They would 
sweep away our faith in a divine Revelation — then in 
miracles — then in the resurrection of Christ — then, ne- 
cessarily, in the life and immortality which He brought 
to light — and leave us perhaps, though even of that 
we are not assured, some naked abstractions about 
"Intuition" and " Absolute Truth." Now a man may 
think it would be for our spiritual benefit to lose a dear 
and valued friend, but we may well expect some ex- 

* The decline of Rationalism in Germany is well worthy of notice in connection 
with its late appearance in the Church of England. One evidence of this decHne 
is fomid in the fact, that whUe there are in Germany three Lutheran and seven Evan- 
gelical organs, there is but one avowedly Rationalistic, the Zeitschrift fur tvissen- 
schaftliche Theologie^ published at Jena. 



THE OXFORD ESSAYS. 5 

pression of sympathy wlien lie comes to communicate 
oui' loss ; and it strikes us as evidence of no little in- 
sensibility, or else of but little expectation of success, 
when these essayists attempt to rob us of what is most 
precious to the soul, and offer us nothing in the way 
of compensation or comfort. 

There is another remark which we wish to make 
upon the Essays as a whole, before we proceed to the 
consideration of the one which is the special subject of 
this article. What seems to us a very unfair imputation 
is cast upon those who receive what are generally re- 
garded as the doctrines of Christianity. It is either 
directly asserted or covertly implied that they set 
themselves in opposition to well-established scientific 
facts, and even to the use of reason, in ascertaining or 
defending the Truth. On this point we are perfectly 
willing to join issue ; and we assert that there is no 
class of men more favorable to scientific inquiry, or 
who have done more for institutions of learning both 
in England and this country, none who have in a 
greater degree encouraged the consideration of Christ- 
ianity on rational grounds, than those who hold the 
very principles which in this volume are so persistently 
assailed.^ 

Our special object in this article is to consider the 
Essay entitled " The Study of the Evidences of Christ- 
ianity," by Baden Powell, M.A., F.R.S. This Essay is 
selected, since it seems to us to relate to certain princi- 

* The view of intelligent, orthodox men on this point is well expressed by 
Bourdaloue : "La foi, je dis la foi Chretienne, n'est point un pur acquiescement a 
croire, ni une simple soumission de I'esprit, mais un acquiescement et une soumis- 
sion raisonables ; et si cette soumission, si cette acquiescement, n'etaient pas rai- 
sonables, ce ne serait plus une vertu. Mais comment sera-ce un acquiescement, 
une soumission raisonables, si la raison n'y a point de part ?" GEuvres de Bourda- 
loue, tome iii. 336. 



6 THE OXFOED ESSAYS. 

pies whicli must be settled before we can profitably 
engage in further inquiry. 

Tbe recent death of Prof. Powell admonishes us to 
deal charitably with his opinions, and places us, as it 
were, under an affecting and sacred obligation to the 
utmost fairness and candor in the consideration of his 
views. This obligation we wish to recognize ; but un- 
less we have wholly misunderstood the drift and signi- 
ficance of this and other writings of Prof Powell, we 
can not but express our profound sorrow that abilities 
so great should have been so sadly perverted to the 
inculcation of the most dangerous error. 

Before entering upon the subject proper of his Essay, 
Prof Powell attempts to remove the objection which 
he supposes to be felt to the discussion of the Evidences 
of Christianity from his point of view. He says, we 
are sure, without any just foundation : " It is the com- 
mon language of orthodox writings and discourses to 
advise the believer, when objections or difficulties arise, 
not to attempt to offer a precise answer or to argue the 
point, but rather to look at the whole subject as of a 
kind which ought to be exempt from critical scrutiny, 
and be regarded with a submission of judgment, in the 
spirit of humility."* We have already referred to the 
glaring injustice of such an imputation, and we now 
say, that any such assertion, in the face of the immense 
amount of research and critical inquiry which is con- 
stantly being made by the advocates of orthodox 
opinions, is utterly without warrant. Those persons 
certainly indicate the strongest confidence in the con- 
sistency and truth of every part of the Scriptures, and 
their willingness to subject them to the closest scrutiny, 
who are the most actively concerned in their universal 

* Page 111. 



THE OXFOED ESSAYS. 7 

diffusion ; and so far is it from being the case that 
there is any concealed or half-conscious suspicion of the 
truth of the Scriptures on the part of intelligent, ortho- 
dox men, that they are the very ones to promote, in 
every way, its widest circulation, to encourage every 
effort to ascertain its real meaning, and to furnish all 
the facilities from history and from science, that the 
inquiry may be conducted with success. 

The implication here is, that orthodox men are not 
willing to hear and answer the objections urged against 
their views. This we must, without qualification, deny, 
and we need only to point to the interminable series of 
works in answer to such objections, as a sufficient refu- 
tation of the charge. But it would be strange indeed if 
orthodox men were not pained at the opposition which 
is waged against truths of the most vital importance. 
Are we expected to be indifferent in such a matter as 
this ? Shall we regard the denial of any and all truth 
with composure ? May the very principles of morality 
be assailed, and no objection urged against the assault 
by those to whom such principles are dear ? When 
such objections are urged, we are willing to refute them, 
but must at the same time be permitted to regret the 
necessity. And therefore, while we do not hesitate to 
consider the difficulties presented in this Essay of Prof 
Powell, we must say that the suggestion of such diffi- 
culties, from such a quarter, is a just cause of the 
deepest shame and sorrow. 

We do not wish to impute to this Essay any opinions 
which it does not clearly and unmistakably express. 
Unhappily, Prof Powell has not expressed himself with 
perfect clearness ; or if his apparent is to be taken as 
his real meaning, then he has not expressed himself 
consistently, and his various statements become abso- 
lutely irreconcilable. The subject of the Essay is the 



» THE OXFORD ESSAYS. 

evidence in behalf of Christianity from miracles. Two 
points seem to be presented for discussion : one is 
the credibility of miracles ; the other is the value of 
them as evidences of Christianity. 'Now as to the 
impression which the Essay will generally make as to 
the author's opinion on these points, we can have no 
doubt. Inevitably the conclusion will be, that the 
author considers miracles as of no value as evidences 
of Christianity, and for the reason that he considers 
them intrinsically incredible and impossible. This, we 
say, will inevitably be the general conclusion, and cer- 
tainly with justice, unless we suppose what is said on 
this point to be grossly inconsistent, and without any 
meaning or significance whatever. In reference to the 
credibility and possibility of miracles, we find in this 
Essay the following language : " The enlarged critical 
and inductive study of the natural world can not but 
tend powerfully to evince the inconceivableness of 
imagined interruptions of natural order or supposed 
suspensions of the laws of matter."* " In nature and 
from nature, by science and by reason, we neither have 
nor can possibly have any evidence of a Deity working 
miracles ; for that we must go out of nature and be- 
yond reason."f We find also, it is true, passages which 
seem to imply that miracles are objects of faith, and as 
such to be believed. It is said : " Miraculous narratives 
become invested with the character of articles of faith." J 
'^ In the popular acceptation, it is clear the Gospel mi- 
racles are always objects, not evidences, of faith."§ Now 
if it is really meant to be asserted in this Essay that 
miracles are objects of faith, and that as such we are 
to believe that they really occurred, we can only say 
that it is utterly irreconcilable with the plain mean- 

* Page 124. f Page 160. :|: Page 160. § Page 161. 



THE OXFORD ESSAYS. 9 

ing of sucli passages as we Lave just before quoted. 
We are reminded, by this portion of the Essay, of 
the audacity of Hume, who, after a labored argu- 
ment to prove that no amount of testimony could 
make a miracle credible, says: "Our most holy reli- 
gion is founded on faith, not on reason." ^^' If these 
statements of Prof. Powell mean any thing, it is an ad- 
mission that without them the whole Essay would show 
itself to be an unqualified assault upon the very foun- 
dations of Christianity, or even of natural religion. 
That they do not mean to indicate the author's real 
conviction, that we are to believe, by faith, that mira- 
culous events ever occurred, is evident from a compari- 
son of two passages in this Essay ; one of which is as 
follows, " The case of the alleged external attestations 
of revelation is one essentially involving considerations 
oipliysical evidence ;"f and the other is this : "Matters 
of clear and positive fact, investigated on critical 
grounds, and supported by exact evidence, are pro- 
perly matters of knowledge, not of faith."J 

One of these passages certainly declares that miracles 
essentially involve considerations oi pliysical evidence, 
and the other, that matters of clear and positive fact 
(and such certainly are those which pertain to physical 
evidence) are properly matters of knowledge, not of 
fiiith. 

If the question presented in this Essay concerns 
merely the relative value of miracles as evidences of 
Christianity, we do not care to argue it. But if the 
question is, whether we have any reasonable ground 
for believing that miraculous events ever occurred, then 
we have a subject presented of the most vital import- 

* Hume's Works, vol. 4, p. 149. f Page 149. X Page 144. 



10 THE OXFOKD ESSAYS. 

ance, and are to meet objections wbicli are fotal, not 
only to revealed, but also to natural religion. 

The key-note to this Essay is the alleged " inconceiv- 
ableness of interruptions of natural order, or suspen- 
sions of the laws of matter."'^" 

We feel that we have a right to complain, at once, 
of the definition which is thus given of a miracle, and 
of the attempt which is thus made to prejudice scien- 
tific minds against miracles by implying their contra- 
riety to the course of nature. Prof. Powell must cer- 
tainly have known that the view of miracles and 
nature taken by the most celebrated Christian philoso- 
phers, from Sfc. Augustine to the present time, makes 
them perfectly harmonious with each other, and is 
itself perfectly consistent with the universality of law 
and the principles of inductive philosophy. 

We feel also that we have good reason to complain 
that Prof. Powell has endeavored to excite a prejudice 
against a belief in miracles by representing such a con- 
viction as inconsistent with the progress of science. 
This is certainly contradicted by facts, and is an appeal 
rather to pride than to reason, for there is nothing 
which is more likely to induce men to change their 
opinions, however unreasonable such a change may be, 
than to represent those opinions as founded in ignor- 
ance. We say also that this charge is contradicted by 
facts, for it is certain that the progress of scientific in- 
quiry has illustrated and confirmed the Christian view 
of this subject. 

One can hardly repress a smile when Prof Powell 
refers to the " palpable contradictions between the facts 
of astronomy and the letter of the Scriptures ;"-f for 
every body uses precisely the language of the Bible in 

* Page 124. f Page 145. 



THE OXFOED ESSAYS. 11 

reference to this matter, and no one ever thinks of 
charging it with being inconsistent with the science of 
astronomy. And although the Copernican system is 
perfectly established, people will undoubtedly continue 
to speak to the end of time, just as the Bible does, of 
the " risioQ^ and settino; sun," and of the " earth which 
can not be moved," although the sun does not move 
around the earth, and the earth does move around the 
sun. And to the end of time, men generally will no 
more question the veracity of the Bible for such lan- 
guage, than they would the veracity of each other, for 
the same reason. 

When Prof Powell implies that geology has disclosed 
contradictions between science and revelation, is he not 
bound to tell us that there is an interpretation of the 
■account of the creation which the first geologist of this 
nge has pronounced to be uncontradicted even in its 
minutest details by the results of geological inquiry f 
and that this interpretation is in its essential features 
that which was well known and favorably regarded 
ages before Geology came to vindicate it and show its 
correctness ? But Prof. Powell not only disregards 
these facts ; he goes still further. He represents the 
science of the day as having rejected the idea of " crea- 
tion" altogether.f He goes so far as to say : " A work 
has now appeared by a naturalist of the most acknow- 
ledged authority — Mr. Darwin's masterly volume on 
'The Origin of Species,' by the law of 'natural selec- 
tion,' which now substantiates on undeniable grounds 
the very principle so long denounced by the first na- 
turalists — the origination of neiv species hy natural 
causes / a work which must soon bring about an entire 

* Testimony of the Rocks. Hugh Miller. Boston : Gould & Lincoln, 
t Page 156. 



12 THE OXFORD ESSAYS. 

revolution of opinion in favor of the grand principle of 
the self-evolving powers of nature."^ Now whether Mr. 
Darwin's theory, supposing it to be true, confirms Prof. 
Powell's views, we do not feel called upon to decide. 
We can understand that it miglit be perfectly consistent 
witli an enliglitened Theism ; but it is an assertion 
utterly untrue that Mr. Darwin " substantiates on un- 
deniable grounds the origination of new species by 
natural causes." His theory, whether true or false, 
whether favorable or unfavorable to revealed truth, 
has not gained the recognition of the highest scientific 
authorities ; but has, on scientific grounds, been expli- 
citly condemned. Agassiz, in his 3d volume of Con- 
tributions to the Natural History of the United States^ 
has subjected it to a most thorough and rigid examina- 
tion, and emphatically rejected^ it. He says: ^'I consi- 
der the transmutation theory as a scientific mistake, 
untrue in its facts, unscientific in its method, and mis- 
cliievous in its tendency."f 

Now it is certainly unwarrantable, in the face of 
such authority on the question of the origin of species, 
or the creation of the world, to claim that the pre- 
sent state of science on these subjects countenances 
the no-miracle theory, or renders the antecedent cre- 
dibility of miracles, in any sense, less than it was 
before. The bearing of the gi*eat scientific discov- 
eries of the present is, to our mind, exactly the re- 
verse. If there is any one clear and indisputable result 
of these investigations, it is the universality of law; 
and the conclusion necessarily drawn from that fact, 
that the Creator of the world is an Infinite Intelligence. 
And since science has utterly failed to detect any ma- 

* Page 15*7. 

f Agassiz's Coutributions to the Xatural History of the United States, vol. 3, 
v.. 113. 



THE OXFOED ESSAYS. 13 

ferial bond wMcli unites different phenomena together, 
but only indicates to us by the fact of a connection be- 
tween them, according to some fixed and definite law, 
the presence of a supreme Intelligence, it has done 
away with the idea of blind and unintelligent causes, 
has exhibited the supremacy of an omnipotent Will in 
nature, and has thus laid the foundation for a belief in 
the possibility of miracles. Every discovery in science 
which brings to light some law of action — and especially 
when it brings this law, as all scientific investigation 
is doing, into harmony with some universal system of 
law — adds to the already overwhelming evidence of 
Intelligence and Will in nature. But the stronger the 
evidence of a supreme Intelligence and omipotent 
Will in nature, the stronger is the evidence of the pos- 
sibility of miracles. The wonderful discoveries which 
have been recently made, adding so vastly to our know- 
ledge of the laws of nature, must make upon every 
philosophical mind the impression that it is looking 
through these laws upon the very workings of an in- 
finite Will ; that the choice of one method of opera- 
tion rather than another, is founded u.pon considerations 
of the highest reason ; and that therefore it is perfectly 
conceivable that for causes influencing the divine Mind, 
this general method of operation may be superseded 
by another and special method, and that thus a miracle 
may occur. The whole drift of modern science, in this 
respect, strengthens, therefore, the conclusion of the 
possibility of miracles, under circumstances which render 
such a change in the Divine method of operation de- 
sirable. We say, under such circumstances, because 
science is not only confirming the possibility of miracles, 
but is showing that many events rashly supposed to be 
miraculous, but for the supposed miraculous character 
of which no adequate cause could be assigned, are not 



14 THE OXFOED ESSAYS. 

really siipernatural. Thus science is at once deepening 
our impression of tlie possibility of miracles, and nar- 
rowing the circle of them, to those great emergencies 
and necessities of our race, which are worthy of the 
special intervention' of God. 

But more than this, there is another respect in which 
modern science has reached results most favorable in 
their bearing for the advocates of miracles. The fact 
of the creation of new species of animal life — or to use 
another form of expression, the appearance of new 
forms of life, wholly disconnected from any preceding 
chain of causes and effects — presents precisely tlie diffi- 
Gidty which has led Professor Powell to pronounce a 
miracle inconceivable. Until recently, the fact of the 
appearance of entirely new species of animal life upon 
our globe, since the creation, was not known. But 
scientific discovery has brought this fact to light. The 
weight qf authority, at the present time, is overwhelm- 
ingly in favor of the disconnection of these new species 
from any preceding ones, or from any preceding chain 
of causes and effects whatever. JSTot one single fact 
has ever been discovered to prove any such connection. 
There is nothing but the mere theory of the transmu- 
tation of species upon which any such alleged connec- 
tion can rest. Now if new species have appeared upon 
our globe, entering into the system of causes and effects 
without previous connection Avith it, that event is a 
direct exercise of Divine power, breaking in upon a 
system of established lav^^s, and is, in all the respects 
which make a miracle inconceivable in the view of Pro- 
fessor Powell, itself a miracle^ and attested by the in- 
disputable evidence of science. And if these new 
species should, after all, be shown to be causally con- 
nected with previous forms of life, still the advocates 
for miracles would have lost nothing which they pos- 



THE OXFOED ESSAYS. 15 

sessed before these discoveries were made ; and tliey 
would still liave gained tlie confirmation whicli science 
lias afforded to tlie conceivableness or possibility of 
miraculous intervention. And even tlien, the fact of 
tlie actual occurrence of miracles in nature is moved 
only one step further back, for we are compelled by 
the very laws of thought to choose between creation 
and the eternity of nature. But the eternity of nature 
is pantheism or atheism, and creation is Mieacle. 

There is a tendency, not in science, but in certain 
scientific men, to seek for a higher degree of certainty 
in scientific results, but only at the expense of degrad- 
ing it to the narrowest limits. The great leader in this 
tendency was the late August Comte, who taught that 
science has to do only with the laws of phenomena, 
and is incompetent to inquire into their causes. Of the 
spirit of this philosophy Professor Powell seems to have 
partaken. This is indicated in what he has to say of 
the dissociation of the physical and spiritual — making 
the first only the object of knowledge, the latter the 
object merely of faith. He thus excludes all spiritual 
facts and truths from the domain of science and know- 
ledge, and virtually limits all certainty to our knowledge 
of physical phenomena. According to this ]3hilosophy, 
we can indeed know nothing of any miraculous agency. 
We may be satisfied of the occurrence of certain extra- 
ordinary events, but we can not attribute them to any 
miraculous cause. No ; nor to any cause whatever ; 
for this j)hilosophy shuts us out, not only from miracu- 
lous causes, but from all other causes also. It forbids 
us to refer phenomena to any cause. It knows of no 
causes in the universe, and is thus blind to the 
agency and even to the very existence of God. It is 
well that we should understand the exact position and 
tendency of this system of thought, and that it dis- 



16 THE OXFORD ESSAYS. 

claims all knowledge of miraculous agency only at tlie 
expense of disclaiming all knowledge of any causes 
whatsoever in nature. 

And in tkis connection it may be well to inquire wkat 
is meant hj this school of writers wlio speak of know- 
ledge on tke one hand and faitk on the otlier, confining 
tlie first to the physical and the latter to the spiritual 
world. Is it meant by objects of faith that they are 
realities, in the existence of which we are to believe ? 
But on what grounds, we may inquii*e, is this belief to 
be exercised ? A belief which does not rest upon evi- 
dence is worth little ; and if it does rest upon evidence 
it is a conviction or conclusion of the mind, the logical 
result of a process of reasoning, and valid or otherwise 
according to the sufficiency of the evidence upon which 
it is based. If this evidence is valid, then the conclu- 
sion of the mind involves knowledge no less than faith. 
We must not suffer ourselves to -be misled by any 
such distinction between knowledo^e and faith. The 
real question presented is whether we have reasonable 
grounds for believing that what are called miracles ever 
occurred ; in other words, is there sufficient evidence to 
warrant the conclusion that the inauo-uration of Christ- 
ianity into the world was accompanied by miraculous 
manifestations ? 

This is, in the first place, simply a question of fact, • 
to be determined like any other question of fact. The 
whole question, at the outset of our inquir^^, reduces 
itself to this : did any fact occur in connection with the 
establishment of Christianity, in reference to which a 
question could arise as to whether it was a miracle ? 
Was there any fact apparently so out of the ordinary 
course of things, in itself so suggestive of the super- 
natural, as to give any countenance to the idea that it 
was miraculous ? We can first examine this question. 



THE OXFOED ESSAYS. 17 

and if we find that there is evidence that any such fact 
occurred, we can then inquire whether there is any good 
reason for referring it to miraculous agency. 

In prosecuting this inquiry we shall confine our in- 
vestigation to one fact, although we are really entitled 
to avail ourselves of the accumulation of difficulties 
thrown in the way of our opponents by the necessity 
of explaining how so large a number of miraculous 
events as we find in the New Testament came to be 
attributed to the Founder of our religion. And we 
shall waive also for the present all considerations of the 
antecedent probability of miracles, although such con- 
siderations would lead us to regard favorably any testi- 
mony in behalf of such events. We will inquire simply 
whether there is any such evidence, as should be consid- 
ered satisfactory, to prove that any extraordinary event, 
not explicable by any known laws of nature, occurred 
in connection with the first promulgation of Christianity 
in the world. 'Now the resurrection of Christ, if it 
occurred, is manifestly an event of this kind, and fui^- 
nishes a test by which the whole question of the actual 
occurrence of miracles may be tried. And this pre- 
sents to us two problems to be solved, namely, did the 
fact of Christ's resurrection actually occur ; and if it oc- 
curred, was it truly a miracle ? 

I*^ow on all the principles of historical evidence, look- 
ing at the question without any prejudices for or against 
miracles, there is no fact in history which stands upon 
a firmer basis than the resurrection of Christ. It is 
to be observed here that while we are willing to con- 
sider this question simply as a matter of fact, on the 
ordinary principles of historical evidence, Prof. Powell 
is not so disposed, but prejudges the testimony on the 
ground of the intrinsic inconceivableness and impossi- 
bility of miracles. He thus places himself virtually 



18 THE OXFORD ESSAYS. * 

on the same ground with. Hume, who asserts that no 
amount of testimony is sufficient to prove a miracle. 

'Now in considering this matter we do not assume 
that the resmTection of Christ, if it occurred, was a 
miracle. We only wish to inquire whether such an 
event did really occur. And we claim the right to 
treat this, as Prof. Powell complains that orthodox men 
are unwilling to treat it, simply as a question of fact, 
to be determined like any other fact, by testimony, and 
without any bias against the fact, arising from any sup- 
posed impossibility of miracles. If it tm^ns out to be 
a fact, it is open to any one to deny that it was a mira- 
cle. That is not now the question. We are now con- 
cerned simply with the inquiry whether the alleged fact 
of Christ's resurrection rests upon unimpeachable testi- 
mony. 

Nothing, it seems to us, can be added to the masterly 
treatment of this subject by Paley. It is easy to sneer 
at Paley, and much easier and cheaper than to attempt 
to answer his arguments. So far is his vv^ork on the 
Evidences of Christianity from becoming obsolete, as 
Prof Powell asserts, that Archbishop Whately has only 
met a deep want of the age in editing it, and accompa- 
nying it with his admirable Annotations.* As the argu- 
ment of this book is of the nature of demonstration, 
and is not likely to be improved upon, we need only to 
commend it to our readers as exhibiting a striking con- 
trast in thoroughness of research and cogency of rea- 
soning to the JEesays and Reviews. It is only neces- 
sary for us to indicate the principal points in this argu- 
ment, and the process by which each step is conclu- 
sively established may be examined in the work itself. 

No historical fact, then, is more conclusively estab- 

* Paley's Evidences. With Whatel/s Annotations. James Miller, New-York. 



THE OXFOED ESSAYS. 19 

lislied than that the assertion of Christ's resurrection 
was made by His Apostles and original disciples. And 
this certainty, it mnst be remembered, does not depend 
at all upon our belief in the divine authority of the 
Scriptures. It could be established even if the Four 
Gospels did not exist. This fact is fatal to tbe idea 
that the story of the resurrection was a gradual growth, 
like some of the supernatural accounts in heathen my- 
thology. Such accounts require time for their develop- 
ment, and the absence of contemporary records, tbat 
they may not be immediately refuted. The original 
Christian story asserted the resurrection of Christ as a 
fact occurring not in a far distant past, but at that very 
time. It is also certain that many of those by whom 
the resurrection was asserted, declared that they them- 
selves had seen Jesus alive after his death and burial. 
Of this, at least, there can be no doubt that we have 
now in our possession the testimony of those who 
claimed to have been eye-witnesses of that which 
they declare to be true. Now this testimony must be 
either true or false. These witnesses either saw Jesus 
alive after his death and burial, or they did not. If 
their testimony is true, then the fact of the resurrec- 
tion actually occurred. K it is false, then one of two 
suppositions must be made. These witnesses were 
either impostors or else they were honestly deceived. 
If neither of these suppositions can be maintained, their 
testimony must be received as true. 

Is it possible that they were impostors ? But impos- 
ture necessarily implies some motive, either of pleasure, 
or honor, or gain. Now there is the most satisfactory 
evidence that no such motive could have influenced the 
original witnesses to the fact of Christ's resurrection. 
From the very circumstances of the case, they had no- 



20 THE OXFOED ESSAYS. 

thing to gain by this assertion supposing it to be false. 
More than this, they had every thing to lose. They 
every where proclaimed the fact of the resurrection, 
and every where suffered as a necessary consequence. 
Some of them even sealed their testimony with their 
blood. To suppose that they persistently exposed 
themselves to contempt, to persecution and to death, 
without the slightest counterbalancing advantage, in 
attestation of what they knew to be a lie, is a suppo- 
sition unequalled in absurdity. 

Were they honestly deceived ? In considering this 
supposition, it must be remembered that they testify 
simply to a matter of fact. It is not testimony in be- 
half of opinions which we are now considering. It is a 
question of the evidence of the senses. It must be re- 
membered, then, that it was not to one only, but to 
many that Jesus appeared — that he appeared not once 
merely, but again and again — that it was not of the 
nature of an apparition coming for an instant, and then 
vanishing away, but that he talked with His disciples, 
sat with them, eat with them, and gave them His final 
commands in reference to His spiritual kingdom. His 
actual presence was certified to them even by the sense 
of touch. And the conviction of the reality of the re- 
surrection was thus forced upon them against all their 
preconceptions and in spite of all their doubts. 

But there is one point which is perfectly conclusive 
in reference to this supposition. If they were honest 
men and yet the subjects of an illusion, then the body 
of Jesus must have been still in the sepulchre. Why did 
not the Jews produce it as a refutation of the story of 
the disciples, and to cure them of their enthusiasm ? 
So far was this from being the case, that the Jews, not 
having possession of the body, charged the disciples 



THE OXFOED ESSAYS. 21 

with stealing it away. If tlie body of Jesus was fraud- 
ulently removed, it must have been by His disciples ; 
but in that case their story of His resurrection must 
have been a willful falsehood persisted in though there 
was nothing to gain and every thing, even life itself, to 
lose. If the disciples were honestly mistaken, the body 
of Jesus was still present, to correct at once any illu- 
sion of the senses. Still further, however, it is impos- 
sible that the disciples could have been mistaken, for 
they explicitly assert, not only that they saw Jesus 
alive, but that they visited and examined His tomb, 
and that His body was not there. 

Some exceedingly curious results in reference to the 
credibility of testimony are presented by writers on 
Probability — a department of science founded by Pas- 
cal and Fermat about the middle of the seventeenth 
century. These results illustrate the subject of which 
we are treating. According to these calculations, sup- 
posing the probabilities against any event to be a million 
million to one, the testimony of thirteen witnesses whose 
veracity is rated at only nine tenths would suffice to ren- 
der it probable that the event occurred."^' On the sup- 
position, then, that the moral wants of man remove in the 
degree of one half the antecedent improbability of the 

* JjQtp represent the antecedent probability of the event, v the 
veracity of each witness, and x the number of witnesses required 
to make it probable that the event occurred. 

Let p = 1 = — + 1, and let 

^ 1,000,000,000,001 IQ12 ' ' 

V = y^o, ^^^ ^ = number of witnesses. 

In order that the probability may equal |-, we must have 
{.—) ^=1- ^ow, ^"=^ and ^^10^^ therefore (i) "X 10^^=1 ; 
whence x log ^=log yV/^ ov x log 9=12, and therefore 



22 THE OXFOED ESSAYS. 

resurrection of Clirist, and tliat tlie veracity of tlie wit- 
nesses, as in tlie case of tlie Apostles, is nnimpeaclied — 
we have tlie probability of tlie event, matliematically 
considered, overwhelmingly established. 

In short, to one capable of appreciating the force of 
moral evidence, no historical fact conld be more con- 
clusively established than that Jesus rose from the 
dead. 

But if Jesus actually rose from the dead — ^if this fact 
is established, like any other historical fact, on testi- 
mony, and that, too, providentially, of the most con- 
clusive character, then we ask, what better or more 
rational explanation can be given of it than that it 
was a miracle ? To admit the fact, and yet to deny 
the cause, is an outrage upon common sense and all 
the convictions of reason. And this point, we insist, 
must be pressed to its logical consequences, which 
sweep away every vestige of arguments to prove that 
miracles are incomprehensible and impossible. 

It will be noticed that we have not added to our 
argument those considerations of the antecedent proba- 
bility of miracles arising from the moral condition of 
man, which greatly predispose us to receive suitable 
testimony in regard to them as true. We would only 
remark in reference to the value of this argument in 
removing what might otherwise be the incredibility of 
miracles, that there are facts constantly occurring in our 
experience, which would antecedently be deemed in the 
highest degree incredible, were it not for the moral 
ends which they subserve. A great moral end to be 
gained tends to remove, therefore, the antecedent in- 
credibility of any event. 

Finally, we would observe, that when Professor Pow- 
ell speaks of the " inconceivableness of interruptions 



THE OXFORD ESSAYS. 23 

of natural order, or suspensions of tlie laws of matter," 
and makes this the basis of an argument against mira- 
cles, he seems to us to have fallen into some confusion 
of thought. It is not clear what he means by " natural 
order" and the " laws of matter." Does he mean that 
we have now a full knowledge of the laws of the sys- 
tem of nature, and that this knowledge may not be 
modified by future discovery? Does he mean that 
there can be nothing which, so far as science goes, will 
be an interruption of this order, or suspension of these 
laws ? Then we have already attained the utmost limit 
of human science, and may rest confident that our ideas 
of nature are not henceforth to be disturbed, and that 
any thing not found in the system of causes and effects, 
as we now understand it, is impossible. Is it not a far 
truer idea of nature to consider it simply as a conve- 
nient term for that part of the universal system of 
things which comes under our observation ? And is it 
not a far higher idea of law to regard it only as the 
method of the Divine operation, in the universal system 
of things ? May not a miracle, therefore, though dis- 
connected from the chain of causes and effects usually 
exhibited to us, fall in harmoniously with the great 
laws of the universe ? Is not that the true philosophy, 
which, in determining the possibilities of things, takes 
into account the moral facts of our being ? And is not 
a reason sufficiently strong for the establishment of 
higher laws, introducing even miracles into the system 
of nature, to be found in the sin and the redemption of 
man? 

Those whose investigations are confined to mere 
physical phenomena and the laws which govern them, 
and whose survey is limited by the sphere of their own 
experience, will be likely to consider miracles as incon- 



24: THE OXFOED ESSAYS. 

ceivable and incredible ; but tlie question of miracles 
presents no difficulties to one wlio lias a large and com- 
prehensive view of nature ; wlio has carefully studied 
tlie principles of historical criticism and the laws of 
evidence ; who is deeply impressed with the moral and 
spiritual wants of man, and who believes in the being 
and government of God. 



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